A Simple Dance
by MasterFirebender84
Summary: Set during Episode 4. After Korra decides to join Tarrlok's task force, she goes outside to be by herself. All she wants is to be left alone for the rest of the night, but a certain Earthbender has something else in mind for her.


Alrighty, finally down with school! Now I can _finally_ get back to my beloved fanfiction! ^_^ To celebrate the occassion, I decided to write up some Borra. :3 I hope you all like it, and be sure to review!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". The show and its characters belong to Mike and Bryan, the brillant geniuses behind one of the greatest cartoon shows in the history of cartoons. Their work is legendary, and I salute them for it. I also do not own "The Legend of Korra" or any of the characters associated with it. I am merely a fanboy with a passionate love for this series.

**A Simple Dance**

Hot, bitter tears stung at Korra's eyes as she stared down at the brightly lit city below from her place up on the balcony, the sounds of mellow music and jumbled conversation from the Gala ever present behind her. She bit her lip as she leaned her forearms against the railing, her shoulders shaking ever so slightly as she tried to control her tumultuous emotions. She scrunched her eyes closed, hoping to hold her tears back in case anyone should come out onto the balcony and find her crying.

Her life was such a chaotic, torturous mess at the moment. The horrid nightmares of Amon taking away her bending seemed to come nearly every night, tormenting her young mind with the sinister Equalist leader with a voice of charismatic steel and a menacing demeanor that would send even the mightiest of benders running in fear.

Her oblivious crush, Mako, was now going out with Asami Sato, the elegant, beautiful daughter of Hiroshi Sato, inventor of the Satomobile. While Korra could care less about who Mako chose to go out with, it hurt that he didn't even seem to notice the distress she was currently going through, not even seeming the least bit concerned for her wellbeing, instead focusing most of his attention on his new girlfriend.

And now this: Tarrlok had managed to organize the media into pressuring her about her duties as the Avatar and her responsibility to Republic City. Caving in under the pressure, Korra announced that she would join Tarrlok's task and help him fight Amon and his Equalists. She was against joining the task force from the beginning, cementing herself fully into her Avatar training to rid herself of distractions, but the accusations of the journalists and the mounting pressure they put on her were simply too much to cope with. After she made her announcement, she excused herself and made her way outside so that she could be alone with her feelings.

Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, they always did, driving a stake of darkening depression deeper and deeper into her heart. The seeds of despair and uncertainty had been planted not long ago, ever since Amon's Revelation, and now that seed had grown into a blossoming bunch of prickled thorns, constricting and killing any small amount of happiness that sought to make its way into her heart.

As one tear trickled out of her right eye, Korra felt a soft, warm hand place itself on her right shoulder, followed by a quiet, concerned voice: "Hey, you okay?" Snapping her eyes open, Korra looked to her left to see Bolin standing right next to her, a worried expression plastered on his usually cheery face, his solid green eyes glimmering in the soft ambiance of the night and his right arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Quickly looking away from Bolin, Korra roughly wiped away her tears, dropping her hand along with her gaze once the tears were gone. "I'm fine," she curtly replied, her voice slightly broken from all the emotion she was trying to hold back.

"You don't look fine to me," countered Bolin, keeping his hand on Korra's shoulder in an attempt to provide some sort of comfort for the Avatar.

Korra was silent for a few moments, knowing it was useless to deny the obvious, choosing instead to hold her forearms and let her gaze drift off into the distance. "Why aren't you inside with Mako and his _girlfriend_?" She tried not to sound contemptuous with that last word, but all of her jealousy and anger seemed to trickle into her voice, polluting her words as they came tumbling out of her mouth.

"Well," awkwardly began Bolin, "I noticed you walking outside after that whole deal with Tarrlok and the press. You seemed pretty upset, so I decided to come out and see if you were okay." Korra still refused to look up at Bolin, knowing that if she did, she'd only start crying again. Bolin seemed to notice her hesitancy, her unwillingness to let anyone in, and simply stood there with her, lightly rubbing her shoulder with his hand.

"You know," quietly whispered Bolin, raising his voice ever so slightly so that Korra could hear him over the music behind them, "it's okay to cry."

"I wasn't crying," protested Korra without removing her gaze from the city, feeling pressure build up in her eyes, signaling more tears to come if she didn't bite them back.

"I know what tears look like, Korra," refuted Bolin. "You were definitely crying."

"So what if I was crying?" bitterly snapped Korra, angrily narrowing her eyes as she looked up at Bolin. "I'm the Avatar. I have more important things to worry about than whether or not I was crying." Bolin studied Korra for a few silent moments, knowing of the hurt she tried to conceal behind her tough, sturdy exterior. He had always been good at reading emotions, of discerning the pain of those closest to him. While he had only known Korra for a couple of weeks, he could still read her emotions much like he could read his brother's emotions.

Along with being able to read emotions, Bolin also had the knack of making people smile no matter how angry, hurt, or upset they were, and he intended to make full use of that natural talent tonight. "Come on," he gently urged, guiding Korra away from the railing and towards the middle of the balcony, finding himself smirking at the incredibly confused look on the Avatar's face.

"Um, what are you doing?" uneasily asked Korra, tensing up as Bolin stopped the two of them in the middle of the balcony, eyes going wide as Bolin spun her to face him.

"Dance with me," simply said Bolin with a warm, charming smile, keeping his hands on Korra's shoulders.

Korra's face erupted into a violent blush, her heart rapidly slamming into her ribcage as she felt her lungs constrict. "Why?" she immediately asked him, fiddling with her dress in the vain attempt to calm herself.

"Can't a guy just have a nice dance with his friend?" innocently asked Bolin, giving Korra a genuine, reassuring smile. While he did have a huge crush on Korra, he was willing to put aside his feelings for the moment to help Korra feel better about her whole situation. It was also a chance for him to get even closer to Korra, but that seemed small in the grand scheme of things; right now, he just wanted to make Korra feel better.

Korra's eyes widened with shock as soon as the word 'friend' slipped out of Bolin's mouth. Bolin really considered her his friend? She had only known the brothers for only a little while now, so it surprised her to hear just one of them acknowledge the fact that he enjoyed her company and that he actually liked her as a person. Despite the panicked, frenzied reactions her body was going through, she gave Bolin a soft smile. "Alright," she relented with a small nod. With a sheepish smile, she bashfully admitted, "But I don't know how to dance."

"Really?" disbelievingly asked Bolin, his left eyebrow dubiously raised. Korra's only response was an awkward chuckle and timid smile accompanied by a light flushing of her tan cheeks. Bolin found himself momentarily transfixed by Korra's beauty, his mouth hanging open slightly. She didn't even have to try to look beautiful to take his breath away. She just…_was_ beautiful, in the most natural of ways. Mentally shaking himself back to reality, Bolin gave Korra a confident smile. "Don't worry, I'll teach you. Just follow my lead, alright?"

"Okay," nodded Korra, feeling her body calm down to its normal state.

"Alrighty, then," said Bolin as he moved his hands down Korra's shoulder, gliding his fingers down her bare arms and sending chilling shivers up his spine at the same time. Taking hold of her firm yet gentle hands, her directed her to place her left hand on his right shoulder, holding up her right hand in his left off to the side. With both of Korra's hands occupied and his left hand full, that left Bolin to place his free right hand on Korra's hip, eliciting burning blushes from both teens. "Uh, hehe," anxiously chuckled Bolin, feeling clammy sweat suddenly coating his face. "You don't mind this at all, do you?"

Korra lightly laughed, clearly amused with Bolin's seemingly silly question. "You're the one who asked me to dance with you, remember?" she teasingly chuckled.

"Yeah," agreed Bolin, nodding his head, gulping down his nervousness.

"And I agreed to dance with you, didn't I?" continued Korra, flashing a sly smile at the fretful Earthbender who was currently holding her.

"Yeah," reiterated Bolin, feeling his hand shake slightly against Korra's hip.

"Then I don't see what the problem is," shrugged Korra, smirking at Bolin all the while.

Deciding to play it cool, Bolin regained his composure, sporting his signature grin. "You know what? Neither do I." Shaking his head as he chuckled, he added, "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Neither do I," amiably chuckled Korra. "Now are we gonna dance, or we just gonna stand out here all night?"

Remembering what they were supposed to be doing, Bolin cleared his throat as he quickly said, "Right, dancing. We should start doing that." Korra just chuckled again as Bolin began to lead her in a slow waltz, their movements seeming to flow perfectly with the soothing melody that drifted out of the Gala and into the open night air.

For the most part, Bolin did most of the dancing, allowing himself to get lost in Korra's shimmering eyes and tender smile. Though he was tense at first, the Earthbender found himself relaxing the longer he danced with Korra, slowly spinning the two of them around in their graceful dance.

Korra was likewise loosening up, feeling all of her worries retreat to the back of her mind, simply losing herself in the peace and serenity of Bolin's kind, caring face. Every once in a while, she would take the lead. Bolin gave no complaints whenever she did; in fact, it was if he _wanted_ her to take charge, to assert herself and to make her feel more sure about herself. Her smile only grew in size whenever he let her take charge, his cheerful smile praising her for her strength and resolve.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bolin finally spoke up, breathless and awe-struck as he whispered, "You're so beautiful, Korra."

All of the wind seemed to be knocked out of Korra at that moment. Just the way he complimented her with such reverence and admiration was simply too much for her to grasp all at once, and she shamefully glanced away from him.

"I'm not beautiful," whispered Korra, an aching pain taking hold of her heart as the words found their way out of her mouth.

"What are you talking about?" shockingly asked Bolin, stunned that someone like Korra would ever say something so negative about herself. "Korra, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met!"

"You're just saying that because I'm the Avatar," countered Korra, still not looking up at her dance partner as they continued their slow spinning waltz.

"No I'm not," truthfully retorted Bolin. "You're completely beautiful and amazing and awesome in every way possible, and it's not because you're the Avatar."

"It's not?" confusedly questioned Korra, looking up at Bolin, her eyes silently asking him to continue.

Bolin shook his head as he smiled. "No, it's not. It's because you're Korra, and I like Korra for who she is on the inside, not because she's the Avatar."

The sincerity of Bolin's words touched Korra deep within her young heart, all of her happiness bursting out into a blossoming smile on her face. She stopped their spinning and threw both of her arms around Bolin's shoulder in a tight hug, surprising the Earthbender for only a brief moment before he too returned the hug, wrapping his muscled arms around her waist. Bolin knew Korra was grateful for what he had said, and he simply let his feelings of friendship for her transfer into his hug.

After a few minutes of their mutual embrace, Korra finally separated from Bolin, her cyan eyes glistening in both the moonlight and the lights from the city. Taking a deep breath, Korra said, "I should get going. Tarrlok is probably expecting me back inside to talk about stuff with the task force." As much as she had enjoyed her dance with Bolin, she knew she had to get back to her Avatar duties, and that included talking to the very Councilman who got her into this mess.

"Hey, that's no problem," assured Bolin with raised hands as he closed his eyes. Just as he opened his eyes and dropped his hands, Korra came up to him again and fiercely hugged him, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

Bolin hugged Korra back as she whispered, "I'm really glad I danced with you."

"Anything to help one of my friends," replied Bolin as the two of them came out of their hug, sharing amiable smiles with one another before went back inside with the rest of the guests. Bolin watched Korra as she left, his heart soaring with infinite gladness, knowing that in some small way, he had touched Korra's heart with his actions.

And he would do all it all again…just for her.


End file.
